


thanks for pudding up with me

by shewasthewind



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Fluff, M/M, Teen Romance, Valentine's Day, by like a few years, everyone except dustin and mike are barely there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 06:24:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17802722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewasthewind/pseuds/shewasthewind
Summary: Dustin hates Valentine's day and nothing can change his mind about that. At least until Mike comes along.





	thanks for pudding up with me

Dustin Henderson hated Valentine’s day.

Of course, he would never tell any of his friends that for fear of ruining their fun, but he certainly acted like it.

Every time he walked past the couples in the hallway making out, he threw up a little bit in his mouth. And when he saw candy being passed around, and people carrying flowers throughout the day, he just rolled his eyes.

To top it all off, he had to deal with Max and Lucas being all lovey-dovey with each other. Lucas, who would usually argue with anyone about anything, simply nodded along to whatever Max was saying, occasionally cutting her off with kisses. While she was in his lap. To be fair, anyone would be wary of arguing with the girl, especially seeing how feisty she was, but this was different.

And Dustin didn’t like different. At least not in this case.

A part of him did know that the only reason he hated this day so much was because he had no one to share it with. But he blocked that thought out and instead told himself that it was because it was a holiday that was practically invented to coerce people into spending their money.

And at lunch, he’d sat there making lists in his head about why Valentine’s day was a terrible idea until he was jolted out of his thoughts by a soft voice.

“Earth to Dustin,” said Will, smiling at him. 

“Oh, uh, sorry Will,” he mumbled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. “Guess I just zoned out.”

The green-eyed boy laughed, shaking his head. “It’s okay. I was just wondering if you had any plans for tonight.”

“No, of course not,” Dustin answered, slightly confused. Will and El usually binge watched rom coms on Valentine’s night, and it seemed like it was strictly a sibling activity. Not that he would mind being invited, but it just seemed weird. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason.”

Dustin looked at him skeptically, raising an eyebrow, and Will held his hands up.  
“Hey, Dust, for real. I wouldn’t lie to you,” Will said, giving the boy his most winning smile.

The curly-haired boy just shook his head, feeling a grin spread across his own face. He couldn’t help it; Will’s smiles were contagious. Not to mention one of the best smiles he’d ever seen. 

“Okay, okay, I believe you,” Dustin chuckled, his face dropping as he looked around the table. “Hey, where’s Mike?”

“No clue,” Will shrugged, wiping jelly off his fingers. “Maybe you should ask El.”

El looked up from her book at the mention of her, shaking her head. “Haven’t seen him,” she said, her eyes locking onto Dustin. “You okay?”

“Who? Me? Yeah, I’m great. Spiffing actually,” he lied unconvincingly, gathering up his stuff and throwing it away, ready to leave.

“You’re lying,” El pointed out, frowning. “And what does spiffing mean?”

“I have no clue,” he answered honestly, slinging his backpack onto his shoulder. “And I have to go, I have science club shit to do.”

Dustin turned away, walking out of the cafeteria. 

As soon as he got outside, he finally let out a breath. _That was close_ , he thought. He didn’t want El to know how he was feeling, because he doubted she’d understand. She was usually understanding, but she hadn’t grown up with this all around her. Plus she seemed to be pretty happy being single. Unlike him.

He shook his head, his thoughts quickly turning to the real reason he’d left. Mike not being at lunch had made him suspicious, and Dustin couldn’t help but think that their paladin was off with some girl right about now. And they were probably kissing, just like everyone else on this day. Well, everyone except him that was. 

Dustin forced himself to push the image out of his mind, mentally reprimanding himself. _Don’t think of things that are gonna make you sad. You just have to get through today. 12 more hours,_ he told himself, hoping that it would work if he kept running those words through his head. _You got this, Henderson._

\---------------------------------------------------------

By the end of the school day, Dustin was fairly sure that he hadn’t gotten this. All he’d been able to think about during English was how Romeo and Juliet were lucky to have died because at least they’d found love before that. Any other day, he would’ve scoffed at their stupidity, but today, all of his rational thought seemed to have been thrown out the window. 

And during Biology, all he noticed was how Mike was still gone, and that boy rarely missed class. Even when he’d had the flu last winter, Mike had still dragged himself to school until he’d ended up puking into the toilet and had been forced to go home.

As soon as Dustin got in his car, he leaned forward onto the headrest, silently thanking Will and El for getting a ride with one of their art friends today. He didn’t think he could be strong enough to sit in the car with them, and especially with both of them always being so nice, he was bound to spill his guts.

 _Okay, go home, do your homework, then bed,_ he reasoned. _Then you’ll be well rested to meet Mike’s new girl tomorrow._

\---------------------------------------------------------

At around five o’ clock, Dustin was just getting out of the shower when he heard a knock on the door. He frowned, confused, before pulling on some pants and heading over to answer it. Max and Lucas had plans, as did El and Will, his mom was out with a work friend, and Mike was obviously nowhere to be seen. He really hoped it wasn’t one of those Jehovah’s Witnesses. They didn’t celebrate holidays anyways, so they probably had no plans for tonight either. _Maybe I should join them,_ Dustin thought grumpily, yanking open the door.

Mike. It was Mike. 

The curly-haired boy barely had time to process this before the other boy opened his mouth.

“Hey, you ready to go?” Mike asked, shooting him a smile.

“Uh, what?” Dustin asked dumbly, momentarily forgetting how to breathe. That right there was the best smile he’d ever seen, and he almost couldn’t handle it.

“C’mon, I’m taking you out,” the dark-haired boy chuckled, gesturing towards his car waiting on the curb outside. 

“Me? Out? Where?”  
“It’s a surprise dumbass. Now hurry up and put a shirt on so we can leave.” Mike rolled his eyes, his gaze landing on Dustin’s bare chest, and his cheeks heating up. “Please,” he said, clearing his throat and guiltily looking away. 

“Um, yeah, okay, I’ll be right back.” Dustin rushed into his room, his thoughts jumbled. He had no clue why Mike was here instead of on a date with his girlfriend, but he wasn’t gonna question it. At least not until they got in the car. He pulled on a shirt, standing in front of the mirror and unsuccessfully trying to tame his curls until he heard his friend call his name again. “I’m coming,” he yelled back, giving himself one last once over before heading out.

\---------------------------------------------------------

“So, uh, are we going to the arcade?” Dustin asked, hoping that the other boy would at least tell him something, because he was pretty confused, and he didn’t like it.

“Do you not know what a surprise is, Henderson?” Mike teased, turning on the radio. “You’ll find out when we get there.”

“C’mon, just a hint,” he pleaded.

“Nope, I’m keeping my mouth shut.”

“Yeah, for once,” Dustin grumbled, causing Mike to reach over and punch him in the arm. 

“Well, it’s for a good reason,” the dark-haired boy said, keeping his eyes on the road. 

“Well, drive faster then,” Dustin retorted, tapping his foot impatiently. He definitely preferred this to moping alone in his room, but he was beginning to think that what he’d been doing before was way less stressful. But then again, he’d probably be happy being in a literal pressure cooker if Mike was next to him. 

“Okay, we’re here,” Mike announced finally, turning off the car. 

“Dude, this is literally the arcade. You could’ve just said yes when I asked.”

“This isn’t the only place we’re going. Just hurry up and come with me.” The taller boy grabbed Dustin’s hand, pulling him up to Dig Dug. “If you can beat Max’s score on this, I’ll tell you where we’re going next. If not, I’ll blindfold you when we get in the car.”

“What? That is so not fair,” protested Dustin. “I’ve been trying to beat Max’s score for four years.”

“Sucks to be you I guess,” Mike smirked. “But if you don’t try at all, I’ll leave you here, so you better get your game face on.”

“Fine Wheeler,” he grumbled. “I’ll do it, but just because I don’t have a ride back and it’s cold. And you owe me ice cream if I get a new high score.”

“You have a deal, but what I have planned is even better than ice cream,” he said. “But you should focus on the game now.”

Dustin looked up, sticking his tongue out at Mike, before starting to play. 

\---------------------------------------------------------

 

Half an hour later found Dustin sitting in the passenger seat of Mike’s car, blindfolded. He could feel the car moving, but he had no clue where the hell they were going. 

The paladin looked over at his friend, observing him. “You’re complaining a lot less than I thought you would. Are you into being blindfolded or something?”

“Shut up Mike,” Dustin hissed, feeling his cheeks heat up. “I’m just enjoying the sounds. I feel like my hearing got sharpened because of this sensory deprivation.”

“Yeah, okay, that must be why you’re blushing.” 

“Did you literally just do this to humiliate me?” he accused, his face flaming. 

“Yup, that’s my kink,” Mike answered easily, and Dustin had no way of knowing if he was serious or not. 

“Uh, um, really?” he managed to squeak out, his brain going into overdrive. He was literally sitting in Mike Wheeler’s car right now, talking about their kinks, and he was slightly regretting every life decision he’d made up to this point, but there was also no place he would’ve rather been. 

“Maybe you’ll find that out later,” Mike mumbled almost inaudibly, but Dustin still heard him.

“What? Mike! Are you taking me to a brothel? I swear, I knew this was a bad idea,” Dustin exclaimed, trying to keep his mind off what the boy could actually be implying. _But there’s no way he means that,_ he reminded himself. “So, are we there yet?” he asked, desperately trying to change the topic. 

“Yeah, but don’t take the blindfold off yet, I’ll help you out after I get set up.”

After he was done, Mike walked over to the passenger side of the car, wrapping an arm around the smaller boy’s waist and walking him to where he was supposed to be standing. 

Dustin tried to ignore their proximity, but he was sure his blush was even more prominent now. “Can I look now?”

“Yeah,” Mike answered, watching as he slipped the blindfold off. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Dustin stared at the scene in front of him, slightly confused as to what he was supposed to be looking at. They were at the quarry, which was somewhere he went often, but the only thing he could really see was a sunset. It slowly dawned on him that that was what he was supposed to be looking at. “Wow, it’s so pretty,” he admired, hoping he sounded convincing. Technically, he wasn’t even lying, because it was really pretty, but it just didn’t seem like something Mike would do. 

“Not that, you dumbass.” The wavy-haired boy rolled his eyes, pointing to a spot on the ground and making sure his friend’s gaze followed.

And when Dustin finally saw it, his mouth dropped open.

It was a heart made out of chocolate pudding cups. It was the best thing anyone had ever done for him (except maybe jumping off a cliff to save his life). 

“Wha-How? For me?” he sputtered disbelievingly. 

“You like it?” Mike asked, his grin showing that he was definitely enjoying Dustin’s reaction. 

He nodded. What he actually wanted to do right now was tell Mike he loved him, but what came out of his mouth instead was, “What about your girlfriend?”

“My girlfriend? What girlfriend?”

“You know, the one that you skipped class to hang out with,” Dustin explained.

Mike rolled his eyes for the third time that day, exasperated. “Dustin Henderson, you are officially the biggest dumbass I’ve ever met.”

“What? Why?”

“The reason I was gone at lunch was because I wanted to buy you chocolate pudding. But literally every store was out, so I had to go all the way to Pikeville to get some.”

“Oh,” said Dustin softly, realizing what that meant. “That was really nice of you.”

“Mhm, you owe me Henderson,” Mike teased, tentatively wrapping an arm around the other boy’s waist and keeping it there this time. 

Dustin was sure his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Cause of death? Mike Wheeler.

“Whatever you want,” he breathed, meaning every word.

“Well, what I want right now is for you to try the pudding.”

“Yeah, okay,” Dustin agreed, reluctantly moving away from Mike to go pick up a pudding cup. He opened it, hesitating before looking up at the other boy again. 

“Shit, I forgot the spoons,” Mike cursed, looking way too disappointed in himself for a guy who’d just pulled off possibly the sweetest gesture Hawkins had ever seen. 

“It’s fine, Mike,” Dustin laughed, shrugging. “I’ll just use my finger.” He stuck his finger in the pudding, licking it off and nodding approvingly. “This is some good shit.”

“Can I have a taste?” the paladin asked, his eyes on the other boy’s lips.

Dustin flushed under his gaze, busying himself with sticking a different finger in the pudding cup. “Of course,” he said, about to reach forward to feed his friend, but then something struck him.

He stepped closer to Mike, placing his hands around the other boy’s neck. “You can have a taste like this,” Dustin whispered, connecting their lips. 

The taller boy reacted immediately, cupping Dustin’s face in his hands and smiling into the kiss, before pulling away a few moments later. 

“Yeah, you were right. Good shit,” Mike mumbled, slightly dazed. 

“The best,” giggled Dustin. “Thank you.”

“And thank you for pudding up with me,” replied Mike, a shit eating grin on his face. 

“Oh my fucking god, you’re such a little shit,” Dustin laughed, hauling Mike in for another kiss. 

Maybe Dustin Henderson didn’t hate Valentine’s Day that much.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a day late, but I impulsively decided to write this on Valentine's Day itself, so I guess it counts since I finished yesterday.
> 
> Thanks to Jo (Hawkinsbabe) and Cullen (The Tozier Wheeler Twins) for proofreading.


End file.
